Sept. 3, 2011. Camping Fail
Our kids decided that we hadn't done any "real" camping this year because we never had a fire lit or cooked s'mores. They refused to acknowledge the fact that we spent more nights in sleeping bags in July than in beds. So we planned a camping trip for this weekend. We made a reservation for Shafer Butte, which is 18 miles up the road from downtown Boise, a 1 hour drive from our house.
Unfortunately, we didn't get to camp overnight, but we learned valuable lessons, like:
Firewood is necessary to build a fire.
It is cool in the mountains when the valley is hot, so Leo needs a jacket.
Moms need to be able to see. It's not an option to forget glasses and contact lens solution.
Packing for a camping excursion must be done before it's time to leave.
Children need to help their parents pack.
I didn't want to repeat the experience. at. all. All week, Ryan kept mentioning that he'd like to take the family camping, but I didn't really think he was serious. I sure wasn't. I am not getting comfortable sleep on my own bed, so why would I like to try to get some sleep in a tent?
Well, Friday morning, he was bound and determined and I found it was futile to resist, so I spent the day working to get ready. I knew our neighbors were going camping on Friday night, so I asked if we could join their family. (Already better than last year, when you camp with others, what you forget, they most likely have.)
Sabrina had a tennis match, so we couldn't leave until 6:30pm. We arrived at Ten Mile campground (9 miles beyond Idaho City on Highway 21) about an hour later. The fire was already going (another perk of going with another family!), so the hot dogs cooked up quickly and we ate. The kids did some exploring at the nearby creek. We set up the tent, ate s'mores and JiffyPop, sat around the campfire enjoying the beautiful scenery and talking with the other two families that were sharing our group site. I slept terribly. There was a cool rainstorm in the middle of the night that woke us up, although we all stayed quiet so we didn't know others were awake until the morning.
Leo loved sleeping in the tent. And playing in it while I cleaned up the sleeping pads and bags. Hyrum loved playing IN the creek. It was a good thing he had a change of clothes to wear. Next time I'll have to remember our swim suits and sandals for that campground. Roderic loved adding wood and pine cones to the fire. Sabrina wasn't too thrilled about going, she had planned on doing all her homework on Friday night so she wouldn't have to do any the rest of the long weekend. The s'mores made it worth it. Next time I need to remember the HOT COCOA for breakfast!
Thank you Egberts and Thorntons for helping me have a positive camping experience so I'll want to do it again with my family!
